Find Out About My Books....

JUST RELEASED - My Peaceful Place - a collection of stories and images to calm and heal. It is the result of accompanying my husband to the hospital several times in one year. The TV was mindless, the newspapers carried controversial politics and depressing crimes, and the book cart carried outdated titles from the 1970s. There had to be something better!

​So, I made it my mission to develop feel-good stories accompanied by images from nature, a proven combination to heal the troubled mind and body. Some of the pictures are my own paintings, but most are stock photos that go with the stories.

​Like what you see? Then you can order your own copy for yourself or a friend or family member who needs the comfort. I have a regular print and a large-print version available.

Which edition?

The EnteleTrons® Series (grades pre-K - 3)

Three captivating new characters called The EnteleTrons help young children understand the natural world while they teach valuable character education lessons and language literacy. Check out the first three books, then discuss the character lessons you find. Click the titles for more information:

​Each book combines STEM and Character Education information in a fun, easy-to-read format for lower elementary readers.

​Are you ready to lead your children to a life filled with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and character education? The future is in your hands!

Woody's World (grades 3-6)

In 1929, twelve-year-old Woody thinks little about money. Then the stock market crashes, crumbling his father’s business with it. Suddenly, money becomes very important to Woody, so he searches for ways to help his family. Sometimes his efforts earn him a few coins. At other times, his efforts remove letters from an imaginary chocolate “RESPECT” bar, that his father uses to keep track of Woody’s mistakes.

In the end, Woody learns about hard work, true friendship, and earning respect. But, will his efforts ever be enough to earn the respect of his father?​Woody’s World is loosely based on the escapades of the author’s father, as he grew up in Princeton, NJ.

​Woody's World is temporarily unavailable. Please EMAIL ME and I'll let you know of its availability.

Ducklings in a Row (grades pre-K - 1)

When Mama Duck asks her ducklings to arrange themselves from One to Ten, the baby ducks learn much more than sequencing skills. In Ducklings in a Row, ten unique duckling personalities combine to form a humorous look at ordinal numbers and at the art of getting along with others. Ducklings in a Row is a full color, hardback picture book written for children from ages 4 – 7. It also includes a teacher's guide with critical thinking questions, related concepts for discussion, a vocabulary list, and references for further learning.Ducklings in a Row​ is temporarily unavailable. Please EMAIL ME and I'll let you know of its availability.

The Beaded Kingdom (pre-teen - young adult)

Change your thoughts. Change your actions. Change your life. This sequence of events sounds easy, but can be very difficult without a constant reminder. The Beaded Kingdom helps readers create this reminder as a beaded chain, with each bead representing a tool for maintaining positive thought patterns. Using this common object as a reminder about how the kingdom of your mind functions, the author presents an easy-to-understand, yet powerful, link between your thoughts, your actions, and your achievements.Thoughts are magnetic, pulling other thoughts with them. When those thoughts are positive, positive things happen to you. Actions show the world what is going on in your mind. Positive actions show everyone that you are an optimistic person. Good things generally happen to optimistic people. The link between thoughts, actions, and a happy life is strong, just like the links in a beaded chain.Take a stroll through The Beaded Kingdomand explore every building of your mind’s kingdom.

Pencil in Family Reading Time

How to Boost a Child's Reading Ability

The concept of a Family Reading Time may be foreign to some families who are bound by busy sports schedules, an overload of assigned homework, and general housekeeping duties. Here are some ideas for starting and maintaining a Family Reading Time.

Set aside as little as a half hour every day for reading. This will benefit your children enormously. Be a strong role model by having your own book (either paper or electronic) handy. If you use an electronic book, don’t cheat and read emails while your children read their favorite authors.

By the time children reach school age, their reading habits have already been established. Even infants benefit from the cadence of a parent reading Dr. Seuss to them. Reading aloud while others read silently can be very distracting. Tell the older children that you will be having a special Family Reading Time with the non-readers. If you read to them only before bedtime, they will come to view reading as something to cause sleepiness. Schedule a Family Reading Time before prime time TV to avoid conflict with preferred programming for the children and the adults in the house. After dinner is a good time for most families.

Sometimes it is difficult to schedule a common Family Reading Time. Ask your children for their input and see if you can establish a common time when they can all agree to read their favorite books. You may only be able to establish a Family Reading Time once or twice a week, rather than once a day. That’s okay! Reading every Sunday night is better than not reading at all. Set your child up with his or her own reading nook like the one pictured - easy to do and fun for reading!

Remember that the Family Reading Time is for extra reading. Assigned reading for school or work belongs outside of the FUN Family Reading Time. Magazines don’t count, either. People tend to look at the pictures rather than read the stories and articles they contain.

Schedule a monthly trip to the library. Most libraries have four-week intervals for their circulation. Know how many books your child will read in a month and only get that many. If you overload a child with ten books when he or she may only read two in that time period, your child will become overwhelmed and may jump between books without finishing any of them. Be prepared to renew a book for two more weeks if your child doesn’t finish in time.

Take a break from the Family Reading Time occasionally to have a Family Book Event. That might be the creating of book marks (put out poster board, markers, crayons, etc.) and then laminate them. Or you might simply have a discussion about books in general. See what everybody likes about the books they have read. Keep the discussion positive. Don’t allow negative comments. You might even decide to all read the same book and then watch the accompanying or related movie. However, everyone, even the adults, needs to agree to read this book! If only one person does not want to read the book, this event won’t go well. Consider using this time to write letters to grandparents, telling them about the book that their grandchildren just read. What fun!

Set up a reward system for reading the books. I don’t mean you should offer candy for each book read. I mean that you should verbally recognize the reading your child has done by discussing the story. Tell about your book, as well, so he understands that reading isn’t just for kids! Consider creating a Family Reading Time bulletin board or album with pictures associated with the books currently being read, or that your family has finished. You might even have a thermometer poster where the red goes up as the number of books read increases. When the red reaches a certain level, go out for a family event like ice cream, pizza, or a movie. Get creative with your reward system and customize it to your family’s interests.

Everyone agrees that the key to success is the ability to read well. As children get older, their books become more and more difficult to read. By the time those children become adults, they may be required to read technical manuals and guidelines for their employment. Without a strong foundation early in their reading career, these children may not have the desire or ability to read what is required for their job. Here are six recommendations to help your child become a strong early reader and successful employee.

Get books that play on your child's interest. Ask you child to list topics he or she wants to read about, then go to the library prepared with a general section in mind rather than aimlessly wandering the aisles in search of books. When your child has a selection of books on topics of interest, he or she will then be more interested in selecting other books that broaden his or her knowledge of the world. Make sure those books are on the child's level so he or she doesn't become discouraged with trying to read difficult words.

Re-read books to strengthen skills. If your child is a pre-reader, you've probably seen the tendency to "Read this again." This is actually a good thing! Research ran a test about this theory. They gave one group of parents and children only a few books that they were to read repeatedly. They gave the other group a wide variety of books that they were to read only once. When researchers returned a week later, they found the children who heard the same story over and over had typically learned 3.6 of the words. Those who were exposed to a variety of stories remembered only 2.6.vv

Ask your child to read aloud. Even if he or she has been reading for a while, reading aloud forces him or her to go slower, which gives him more time to process the words. This improves reading comprehension. You can even take turns reading aloud.

Talk about the books. Get creative with your book discussions. Instead of asking which animal your child likes best, find out why the giraffe is his or her favorite and which characteristics of that giraffe helps him or her to survive. Also build on this book to find out books to read. If your child finds that the animal survival characteristics are interesting, get survival books the next time you go to the library. This verbal processing of the book helps him or her to remember what has been read.

Be a reading role model. If your child sees you reading regularly, he or she will be more likely to pick up a book as well. This is a good suggestion for all other behavior - like eating well, getting enough sleep, and watching appropriate shows on TV.

Provide incentives to finish a book. Sometimes older readers want to get done with a book so they can get on to the next one. Encourage the enjoyment of the process of reading rather than the outcome of reading as much as possible. Assign a point system for reading a certain number of pages in a long book. Work with your child to create a personalized bookmark. List book endings on a chart posted in the child's room so he or she can see progress. Find ways that will encourage your child to continue reading one book before going on to another one.

When you develop good reading habits in your children at an early age, they will be better prepared for the required reading that will naturally occur as they get older.